This “one owner” fat back cabinet guitar was recently sold to a nice gentleman in Texas. He asked me to just disassemble and clean it but not have the bright metal polished, so I did what you might call a partial restoration (leaving the original patina intact). Below is how the guitar looked before the work on it was done.

Here is how it looked after I did the work on it.

Right after the guitar arrived, my customer actually unboxed the guitar and took it out to play at a gig! It was a very hot day in Texas but the guitar performed flawlessly and he is very happy with it.

This guitar is what was referred to by the Emmons factory as the “Student Model” but I have just updated it into much more than an entry-level, student model guitar. When these models were originally sold, they were only equipped with one knee lever and the fret board was simply glued to the top of the cabinet. The string height from the fret board ended up to be a bit more than normal, which can make it a little awkward to play, if you’re used to the pro model steels. I installed a maple insert under the fret board bringing it up to the normal distance below the strings. I also installed four brand new genuine Emmons knee levers. This “one owner” guitar S/N 541 GS was purchased new in 1975 and has been located in Seattle, Washington ever since. It was seldom ever played and is in absolutely mint condition, along with the case! A rare find, indeed…

At the moment, this guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 3×4 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style at no extra charge. I’ll also make reasonable changes to the existing copedent for free as long as you pay for any additional parts (if required). The original Emmons single coil pickup has just been rewound by the Emmons Factory to about 14K ohms. It was originally wound to 11K ohms, which sounded a bit thin to me. The guitar presently sits at standard height on non-adjustable legs but adjustable legs could be installed for an extra charge. These guitars sound and play great, just like all push-pull Emmons guitars and it’s ready to gig! Included is a new D2F leg bag.

$1700.00 plus shipping. PayPal (add 3%) or cashier’s check accepted.

The original Emmons volume pedal that came with this guitar is available for an additional $125.00

I’ve just finished completely restoring this beautiful Sho~Bud, serial number is 11375. The cabinet was refinished in a semi-translucent black lacquer and the bright aluminum repolished, (end plates, necks, key heads, pedal rack channel, knee levers, pedals, etc.). Most of the work I did involved a complete disassembly of the guitar and a thorough cleaning of the entire under carriage. A few of the tops of the fingers had some string abrasion, so they were replaced. I also installed new nylon tuning nuts and a new neck selector switch. The Grover tuning machines are original and in very good condition and I chose to reinstall the original fret boards, also in nice condition. The guitar is presently at standard height with the original legs.

At the moment, this guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 8×4 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style at no extra charge. I’ll also make reasonable changes to the existing copedent for free as long as you pay for any additional parts (if required). The guitar still has the original Sho~Bud single coil pickups that came with it. The E9 pickup is wound to about 19K ohms and the C6 about 21K ohms. They sound great with lots of presence and string separation. These vintage Sho~Bud guitars have a warm but clear tone and this one is no exception.

Included is a new black Tolex split case set, with wheels on the main case for the guitar itself and a smaller one for the pedal rack, rods and legs and a new D2F leg bag.

Note: I have purchased a very rare, Sho~Bud “clip-on” style volume pedal in nice condition that could go with this guitar. This is not a stand alone pedal, as it actually connects to the pedal rack. This can be purchased if desired, for an additional $150.00.

This 1980 Emmons guitar S/N 173 ST 10 has just been completely restored. It was quite a project to take on, as the original owner has done some extensive “modifications” to it, which needed to be repaired in order to return the guitar to looking as original as possible. I recently posted a topic on the Steel Guitar Forum that describes more in detail what was done, so if you’d like to know more, please feel free to click on the link below, which will take you there.

I completely dismantled the guitar, thoroughly cleaned and inspected everything and replaced any worn parts. The “loafer” pad on the rear deck, tone control assembly, A and B pedals, fret board, changer axle, etc. were replaced along with a few other parts. The case I have for this is in “like new” condition and covered with sharp-looking tweed vinyl (looks similar to what Fender used to use).

The legs are standard height. It has that “famous Emmons sound” folks rave about, great sustain and of course it plays like a dream. I just finished doing the final the set-up, so it’s ready to gig right now!

This guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 3×4 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style, (or your own copedent) at no extra charge (as long as no additional parts are required). The stock single coil pickup is wound to about 20K ohms.

This is one of the very last guitars that the late Jimmy Crawford and John Hughey produced and utilizes the latest changer design (featuring raise helper springs). The letters JCH stand for Jenkins (Conway Twitty’s real name was Harold Jenkins), Crawford and Hughey. The serial number is 2086. You’ll notice that there are quite a few polished parts in the under carriage, so I feel the original owner must have paid a premium for this upgrade. This is a very smooth playing all-pull guitar, very similar in looks to an early Emmons Lashley LeGrande with 4 hole rod pullers. It’s an original (except for the pickups) un restored guitar in very nice 9/10 condition. I believe Jimmy only produced between 200 – 300 guitars in total, so they are extremely rare and very hard to find, especially in this condition!

Excellent playability and awesome tone!

This guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 8×5 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style, (or your own copedent) at no extra charge (as long as no additional parts are required). The Emmons single coil pickups are wound to about 18K ohms.

I completely restored this Original (not a reissue) 1976 Emmons guitar S/N 2253D from top to bottom, it’s the real deal and correct as it can be, right down to the proper slotted wood screws holding the brackets to the cabinet. The highly figured birds eye maple cabinet was reflocked, aluminum professionally polished, necks jeweled, etc. and the fret boards are new Emmons Factory replacements. The original Kluson butterfly keys are in great condition. Original legs are standard height. The fatback guitars from this era are some of the best sounding ones and this is no exception! It has that huge Emmons push-pull tone, wonderful sustain and it plays like a dream.

Here are a few photos that were taken in the direct sun, to try to show off the highly figured birdseye maple in the cabinet.

The ones below were taken on my deck in the shade.

Here is a photo of the “neat as a pin” under carriage. Knee levers are anodized black.

At the moment, this guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 8×4 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style at no extra charge. I’ll also make changes to the existing copedent for free as long as you pay for any additional parts (if required). If you’d prefer to have more knee levers, I could certainly oblige by adding more of them (for an additional charge, of course). The original Emmons single coil pickups are wound to about 18K ohms and sound perfect to me. Included is a hard case in great condition and a new D2F leg bag.

Well, here’s my latest project that I just finished up. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out and I hope you feel likewise! The cabinet was stripped and refinished by my friend, Bob Littleton in Camas, Washington. We tried to stay with the original teal color (without the black corner shading) that had really faded. Here is a link to his web site.

I completely restored this Original push-pull Emmons guitar (serial number 1838D) from top to bottom. It’s the real deal and correct as it can be, right down to the proper slotted wood screws holding the brackets to the cabinet. The only change I made was eliminating the black corner shading on the lacquer finish. The cabinet was re flocked, all aluminum professionally polished, necks jeweled, etc. The fatback style guitars from this era are some of the best sounding ones and this is no exception! It’s “bulldozer” in the tone department and it plays like a dream.

Here is a photo I took indoors to try to show a good representation of the shade of teal it has. To my eye (in person) it actually looks a little more green than blue.

Here are some photos I took in the direct sun to try to show off the highly figured cabinet. In these, it looks more blue than green.

Here is a photo of the under carriage. Note the polished knee levers!

At the moment, this guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 8×4 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style at no extra charge. The original Emmons single coil pickups are wound to about 15K ohms.

I completely restored this Original push-pull Emmons bolt-on changer style guitar (invoice number 2891) from top to bottom about a year ago. It’s correct as it can be, right down to the proper slotted wood screws holding the brackets to the cabinet. Because it lived most of its life in North Carolina, most of the nickel plating in the under carriage was lightly pitted, so I chose to have all the steel parts stripped and re nickel plated. The cabinet was re flocked, all aluminum professionally polished, necks jeweled, etc. The bolt-on style guitars from this era are some of the most desirable, because of their very distinctive tone! Bolt-on guitars were only built between 1964 and 1967, so relatively few exist, especially in this color, as most were black. This very unusual mica is actually off-white and has a leather-like texture to it. This guitar has a big, full sound and plays like a dream.

Here is a photo of the under carriage

This guitar has a very standard Emmons set up; 8×5 with E’s on the left but I’ll be happy to switch it to Day style at no extra charge. The original Emmons single coil pickups are wound to about 17K ohms.